Publications by authors named "Bentley K"

Background: Chronic pain among children and adolescents negatively impacts overall functioning and quality of life. Although Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment (IIPT) programs aim to reduce functional impairment and perceived pain, overall evidence is limited and restricted by small sample sizes and limited diversity in pain diagnoses.

Objective: To determine whether children and adolescents with chronic pain participating in an inpatient IIPT program experience improvements in their physical function and perceived pain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Endothelial cells are key players in the cardiovascular system. Among other things, they are responsible for sprouting angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation essential for both health and disease. Endothelial cells are strongly regulated by the juxtacrine signaling pathway Notch.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) acquires unique properties to regulate neuronal function during development. The formation of the BBB, which occurs in tandem with angiogenesis, is directed by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Yet the exact molecular interplay remains elusive.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The article introduces a new method called top-down drug discovery (TD), which involves searching through a large database of fungi to find genetic locations that produce molecules targeting specific human proteins, like cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs).
  • * Researchers successfully discovered two new molecules that inhibit CDKs and improved one of them to enhance its selectivity and effectiveness, showcasing the potential of TD for developing innovative medicines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Standardized efficacy surface tests for disinfectants are performed on pristine surfaces. There is a growing interest in understanding the impact of surface ageing on disinfectant activity, owing for example to the increased usage of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and oxidative chemistries for surface decontamination. This acknowledges that general surface 'wear and tear' following UV radiation and oxidative biocide exposure may impact biocidal product efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Pethoxamid (PXA) is a chloroacetamide herbicide that inhibits weed germination and has been found to cause thyroid follicular cell hyperplasia in high-dose male rats, but does not act as a genotoxic agent.
  • - A study assessed the effects of PXA on the disposition of intravenously administered radioactive thyroxine in bile-duct cannulated rats, compared with a positive control (phenobarbital), showing increased liver weights and altered thyroid hormone clearance.
  • - The findings suggest PXA affects thyroid hormone balance through increased T4 elimination in bile due to enzyme induction mechanisms, but these effects are likely not relevant to humans due to species-specific differences in thyroid hormone metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Major depressive disorder affects approximately 1 in 5 adults during their lifetime and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Yet, a minority receive adequate treatment due to person-level (eg, geographical distance to providers) and systems-level (eg, shortage of trained providers) barriers. Digital tools could improve this treatment gap by reducing the time and frequency of therapy sessions needed for effective treatment through the provision of flexible, automated support.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Infection by gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), particularly Haemonchus contortus, can be detrimental to sheep health and performance. Genetic susceptibility to GIN varies between breeds, with those lacking high levels of natural resistance often requiring frequent anthelmintic treatment when facing parasitic challenge. Genetic technology can serve as a tool to decrease GIN susceptibility via selection for sheep with reduced fecal egg count (FEC) estimated breeding values (EBVs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: This manuscript describes an evidence-based, student-led, single-session group intervention to support emotional wellbeing among graduate students. The present objective is to provide a roadmap for other universities. : Key participants include clinical psychology graduate students (leader and workshop facilitators), faculty supervisor, representatives from receiving departments or schools, and institutional advocates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Musculoskeletal infections (MSKI), which are a major problem in orthopedics, occur when the pathogen eludes or overwhelms the host immune system. While effective vaccines and immunotherapies to prevent and treat MSKI should be possible, fundamental knowledge gaps in our understanding of protective, nonprotective, and pathogenic host immunity are prohibitive. We also lack critical knowledge of how host immunity is affected by the microbiome, implants, prior infection, nutrition, antibiotics, and concomitant therapies, autoimmunity, and other comorbidities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In Brief: The mechanisms regulating the signaling pathways involved in angiogenesis are not fully known. Ristori et al. show that Lunatic Fringe (LFng) mediates the crosstalk between Bone Morphogenic Protein 9 (Bmp9) and Notch signaling, thereby regulating the endothelial cell behavior and temporal dynamics of their identity during sprouting angiogenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The microbicidal efficacy of hand sanitizer formulations is usually measured through standardized quantitative suspension tests and fingerpad tests; these cannot evaluate long-lasting formulations or are impractical due to biological risks, high cost, or time required for testing. With increased numbers of long-lasting microbicidal activity claims of commercially available hand sanitizers, alternative testing strategies are required.

Aim: To explore the use of a standardized ex-vivo pig skin model to reproducibly measure long-lasting efficacy of an alcohol-free hand sanitizer formulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

While STING agonists have proven to be effective preclinically as anti-tumor agents, these promising results have yet to be translated in the clinic. A STING agonist antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) could overcome current limitations by improving tumor accessibility, allowing for systemic administration as well as tumor-localized activation of STING for greater anti-tumor activity and better tolerability. In line with this effort, a STING agonist ADC platform was identified through systematic optimization of the payload, linker, and scaffold based on multiple factors including potency and specificity in both in vitro and in vivo evaluations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The heterogeneity of the immunocompromised population means some individuals may exhibit variable, weak or reduced vaccine-induced immune responses, leaving them poorly protected from COVID-19 disease despite receiving multiple SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. There is conflicting data on the immunogenicity elicited by multiple vaccinations in immunocompromised groups. The aim of this study was to measure both humoral and cellular vaccine-induced immunity in several immunocompromised cohorts and to compare them to immunocompetent controls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Brief, transdiagnostic interventions are an efficient form of mental health care for resource-limited settings like universities. Little research, however, has examined for whom these treatments are most effective. One important factor may be psychotherapy treatment history.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF